Joliet motorcycle crash kills 1

September 22, 2008

A motorcycle crash this morning on U.S. Interstate 80 in Joliet left one man dead, state police said.Witnesses told police that at about 10:50 a.m. they saw a Harley-Davidson motorcycle with just a rider speed up the onramp from Center Street to the eastbound lanes of the highway, according to a press release from Illinois State Police.

The rider, identified as Sammie Lee Williams, 45, of Joliet, lost control of the motorcycle, struck the left guard rail, then rolled several times. Williams, who was neither wearing a helmet nor had a motorcycle-operator license, was pronounced dead at the scene, the statement said.

Police do not know if alcohol or drugs were factors in the crash. They continue to investigate the incident.